Medications, Diet
& Science
I couldn't decide what to write about next. Types of
medications or what I was going to call science and the brain. Really they go
hand in hand as the medications we currently have are based on what science has
told us about the brain.
The first thing I learned about antipsychotic medications is
that there are two types. Typical or first-generation and Atypical or
second-generation. Typical are the ones that have been around since the 1950s.
Atypical have been around since the 1990s. Because of the serious side effects
of typical, Atypical were created to help lessen the side effects. However
there currently seems to be a debate on whether or not they accomplished this.
Here's a list of typical antipsychotics:
Generic Name Brand
Name
Chlorpromazine Largactil,
Thorazine
Thioridazine Mellaril,
Melleril, Novoridazine, Thioril
Mesoridazine Serentil
Levomepromazine Nosinan,
Nozinan, Levoprome
Loxapine Loxapac,
Loxitane
Molindone Moban
Perphenazine Trilafon
Thiothixene Navane
Trifluoperazine Stelazine
Haloperidol Haldol
Fluphenazine Prolixin
Droperidol Droleptan,
Dridol, Inapsine, Xomolix, Innover (+ Fentanyl)
Zuclopenthixol Clopixol
Prochlorperazine Compazine,
Stemzine, Buccastem, Stemetil, Phenotil
Here's a list of atypical antipsychotics:
Generic Name Brand
Name
Amisulpride Solian
Aripiprazole Abilify
Asenapine Saphris
Blonanserin Lonasen
Clotiapine Entumine
Clozapine Clozaril
Iloperidone Fanapt
Lurasidone Latuda
Olanzapine Zyprexa,
Ozace
Paliperidone Invega
Perospirone Lullan
Quetiapine Seroquel
Remoxipride Roxiam
Risperidone Risperdal,
Zepidone
Sertindole Serdolect
Sulpiride Sulpirid,
Eglonyl
Ziprasidone Geodon,
Zeldox
Zotepine Nipolept
Under development:
Bifeprunox
Pimavanserin
Vabicaserin
I didn't realize there were so many. I wish that I had
kept some of my old notes on some of the medications my son used to be on but I
don't recall anything from the typical list. Also I apologize if I spelt any of
them wrong. From the atypical list I'm aware of Aripiprazole, Risperidone,
Olanzapine and Clozapine. Then there's also the anti-depressants and/or
anti-anxiety medications. My son could probably give more information on those
as I have not had to deal with them except when he first came back to live with
me. Venlafaxine, Clonozapam and Lorazapam were the only three that I had to
deal with. It was only recently that I realized Venlafaxine wasn't an
antipsychotic.
Knowing the difference in generic and brand names has
helped to cut down on some of the confusion I was going through when
interacting with my son's psychiatrist and pharmacy staff. What I call Abilify
his psychiatrist may call Aripiprazole. Same with Clozapine/Clozaril. It helps
when I'm doing research or reading posts on forums to know that a drug with a
different name is in fact the drug I'm looking for answers on.
Getting answers... Aside from the science part that I
barely understand anyways, I find myself questioning a lot of what I read. I
wonder about the study groups and what circumstances they are taking into
account or not taking into account when they come up with results of something
working or not working. For starters let me state that I would like to find a
balance between medications and say the holistic approach of diet etc. but I do
tend to lean on the side of medications at least for the moment. I do research
on my son's medications and I read the side effects and yes I know that some of
them can be quite serious. Weight gain, diabetes and tardive dyskinesia among
the worst of them. I've previously made statements that I understand that my
son doesn't want to take medications for something he thinks he doesn't have
and that I can empathize with that. Well the fact is that he does have a mental
illness. If I did have cancer I would do chemo therapy even knowing that it was
going to cause some awful side effects because the possible benefits out way
the negative side effects. I read a lot of people's concerns on side effects
and the one thing that I seem to always end up questioning is 'How do we know
that if left untreated the person in question would not have developed some of
these effects anyways?' I ask it not to be uncaring but because I'm aware of
how unhealthy a life a person with psychosis can lead. Tardive dyskinesia is
scary but so is suicide. Per Wikipedia: Tardive dyskinesia is a form of dyskinesia, a disorder resulting in
involuntary, repetitive body movements. Frequently occurs after long-term or
high-dose use of antipsychotics or in children and infants as a side effect
from usage of drugs for gastrointestinal disorders. The involuntary movements
are tardive, meaning they have a slow or belated onset. For me it raises the
question of the possibility that tardive dyskinesia could have happened due to
street drug use as much as prescribed antipsychotics. If they have slow or
belated onset how can we be sure what's causing it. In trying to find my
answers I end up asking a lot more questions.
I guess this would bring me into the diet and science part.
Every day more and more studies are being done. There are so many chemical
imbalances, too much of this or too little of that. So many factors that were
not being considered before. He doesn't
have enough niacin also known as vitamin B3, high levels of adrechrome an amino
acid similar to adrenaline, not enough B6, zinc and vitamin C, could be
sensitive to gluten especially wheat gluten and the list goes on.
As for science. There are so many theories yet still no
definite answers. He has less grey and white matter, larger third and lateral
ventricles yet less whole brain volume, decrease cerebral (cortical and
hippocampal) volume, absence of gliosis and the list goes on and on. None of
this makes a lot of sense to me. I do the research and look at the pictures in
hopes that I will gain some understanding. I found out about the larger third and lateral
ventricles when I was trying to find a cause for the pressure my son reports
feeling in his head. They are a communicating network of cavities filled with
cerebrospinal fluid and located within the brain parenchyma... between the
brain and his skull and are supposed to increase with age. Some of the
abnormalities associated with the brain of someone with schizophrenia are:
excessive stimulation of striatal dopamine (DA) D2 receptors, deficient
stimulation of prefrontal DA D1 receptors and alterations in prefrontal connectivity involving glutamate (GLU)
transmission at N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. The simplest way I can understand all this is
that my son's brain is over stimulated in some areas and the connecting areas
are not able to handle the input. I would imagine it being like you're in a
crowded room with everyone talking to you at once and your high or depressed to
boot.
Now try treating all this with diet. I don't think it's
possible. I think it can help but as with everything else I just end up asking
myself more questions. Is diet is going to decrease the size of his third and
lateral ventricle, increase his grey and white matter or cause his striatal dopamine
receptors to be less stimulated? I can try to limit his sugar so that he's not
getting to stimulated, increase his niacin/vitamin B3 to help reduce
hallucinations, give him vitamin C because he smokes so much, give him omega 3
because it's good for the brain and limit his gluten even though he doesn't
have signs of celiac disease because it's not good for us. Very few of us eat a
completely healthy diet and for the most part we aren't suffering from
psychosis. I question if what is happening in the body is a result of what is
happening in the brain or vice versa. I tend to believe that what is happening
in the brain is causing the body not to function as it should. If the brain
can't deal with all its internal stimuli how can it deal with bodily functions
appropriately. I'm happy he's eating and
taking a multi-vitamin most of the time and for me that's good enough for now.
Back to medications and how they work. They help the
brain to restore its usual chemical balance. They alter the activity of specific
chemicals called neurotransmitters. Mental functions can be altered through the
use of drugs either by speeding up or slowing down some of their activity.
Caffeine is a psychoactive substance as are antipsychotic drugs. Antipsychotic
drugs interfere in the functioning of several neurotransmitters and receptors.
Dopamine and serotonin being some of them. Neurotransmitter receptors are found
in the brain and the body. There is plenty of information on the internet on
how they think antipsychotics work. Yes think... because even though they are
creating them they don't seem to know exactly how they work just that they do
work. They block dopamine receptors in one area of the brain that causes
psychotic symptoms. They prevent norepinephrine and serotonin from being taken
up into neurons after they have been released. I know little about dopamine and
serotonin except that dopamine causes euphoria
and serotonin regulates our moods, appetite and sleep. If the brain is
not regulating these properly then the result would be feeling too high or low
and the inability to take care of our own body since it doesn't even know what
it wants or needs. Combine this with what I wrote on delusions, etc. and here
we are... Can I expect to fix any of
this without the aid of medications? I personally don't think so. I think I
have said this before but the more stable I can get my son on antipsychotics
the better I will be able to introduce to him a healthier life style and help
teach him the right choices and the consequences of wrong choices.
Mom
BarbieBF
© August 2013
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